Axe of the Blood God: An RPG Podcast

It's time at last to share our newly-revised list of the 25 best RPGs of all time! For much of 2022 we've been slowly collecting potential nominees for an update to the list that we made several years ago. Now it's time to share that list for all to see!  To make this list we took the list of nominees plus the original list and made our own Top 25s, with the games that were on all three lists going straight into the Top 25. From there we embraced debate with discussions including: Whether or not Mass Effect should be included a trilogy Eric calling Skyrim the "McDonald's hamburger of RPGs." Multiple RPGs being rescued from the dead  Whether it's time to anoint brand-new #1! For your convenience, we've shared time codes below. Time Codes 4:40: We share our personal Top 25 RPG lists 21:35 - The Initial Cutdown + Wild Card Picks + Listener Poll 36:35: Games That Made At Least Two Lists 140:25: Finalizing the List 2:23:00: Ranking the Games 2:50:20: The Top 25 RPGs Of All Time Thanks again for joining us in this very fun project! We'll probably be circling back and rebuilding given that there always amazing new RPGs being released. But in the meantime, we're excited to hear your thoughts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Axe of the Blood God, the gang takes a step into the fascinating and revolutionary (if jagged and polygonal) world of massive multiplayer online RPGs from the 2000's. Kat, Nadia, and Eric are joined by very special guest Amy Dunham, who worked on some of the most prominent '00s MMORPGs. (And more than a few other games, too!) Tune in as we talk about World of Warcraft, EverQuest, Eve Online, Elder Scrolls Online, and much more. Rest assured, Nadia reps Rangarok Online, too Also in this episode: Starfield is delayed, no Starfield for Kat Final Fantasy XIV players are being sent to video game jail for using mods Pokemon Home adds support for Brilliant Diamond, Shining Pearl, and Legends Arceus Eric lords his Steam Deck over the rest of us plebes On the Post Show:  This week's Axe of the Blood God post show is a godless mess as usual. Master Chief is no longer a virgin, so let's all gather around in a circle, clap, and tell him "Congratulations!"  Also, there is a lot of Final Fantasy X discussion. Why don't people on Besaid island eat chocolate cake? Because it's SINfully delicious. Wakka Wakka Wakka! The Post Show and the live recording can be access through the Stars of Destiny tier and above on the Patreon.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As a special thank you to our listeners for helping us reach $6000 two months in a row, we recently hosted a very special D&D 5e session with special guest DM Shivam Bhatt. Now it's available for everyone to listen! Tune in as our heroes embark on a quest for the Axe of the Blood God; bumble into some orcs; have a really hard time climbing a hill, and say hello to a very special badger named Orlando. Here are the characters: Kat plays Kara the Wanderer, a Paladin devoted to Selune the Moonmaiden. Nadia plays Kalfor, a Red Dragonborn Ranger with motivations of their own (and a cool hat, apparently). Eric plays Coronach, a Tiefling Warlock with a real Pixie problem. If you enjoyed the adventure, let us know! It would be fun to do more of these if listeners are interested. Until then, thank you as always for your support and the opportunity to do fun and unique adventures like this one! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tired of the same ol' RPGs? Why not try changing your perspective?  This week by Patron request, Nadia, Kat, and Eric talk about isometric RPGs with some help from Leana Hafer of Three Moves Ahead. Topics of isometric discussion include "How good is Tunic?" (Very good.) "Does Dragon Age: Origins count as an isometric RPG?" (Yes.) "Which isometric RPG should Nadia play?" (Disco Elysium, CUNO.) And "How is 2022 looking for the sub-genre?" (Pretty neat!) Other topics of discussion include: Kat's ensnared by a mobile gatcha RPG. SHAME. SHAME. Nadia hates Crumbling Farum Azula and everyone on it. The how, why, and "huh?" of Square Enix's IP fire sale. We pick our final four nominees for the rebuild of the Top 25 RPGs of all time list! Enjoy the show? Check out our Patreon at https://patreon.com/bloodgodpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Blood God is back in full force after Eric and Nadia's trip out to Boston. We're continuing our unofficial Job Hunt with a discussion about White Mages and healers in RPGs! How has healing evolved over the years? Who's the best healer around? Is Kat going to start playing competitive Pokemon again? Answers to all these and more in this week's episode, plus: Eric gets bitten by the GBA Fire Emblem bug Kat gets an after-school gig, this Week in Gekkoukan Nadia sends a battery boy to Dura-Hell Plus, four more picks for our soon-to-close nominations for the Top 25 RPG rankings! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Axe of the Blood God was at PAX East over the weekend, where Nadia and Eric were joined by special guests Scott White and Ash Paulsen! In a special live panel, they discuss the State of Final Fantasy from the good, to the bad, to the... Chaotic. Thanks so much to everyone for joining us, and you can watch the panel here!   Plus Kat, Nadia, and Eric talk about Xenoblade Chronicles getting pushed up (!?) to July and Elden Ring Patch 1.04! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's Axe of the Blood God is simple and clean. Friend of the show and Good Vibes Gaming host Ash Paulsen joins Kat, Nadia, and Eric to talk about Square Enix's surprise Kingdom Hearts 4 announcement. What, exactly, is going on in the game's mystifying trailer? How did Sora get doxxed? What happened to his Ronald McDonald shoes? Why did Goofy and Donald descend into hell to look for Sora instead of assuming he went to Heaven? The discourse is rich and flavorful.  Also in this episode: Final Fantasy XIV 6.1 is here. Time to dust off your catboys. Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes pits Not-Byleth against Byleth. Kat beats up her first shadow in her Persona 3 day-by-day playthrough The "What is an RPG' discourse reaches new, depraved depths. But "If Bloodborne counts as an RPG, so does Actraiser! Tell 'em, Hawk!" Nadia once had a Cabbage Patch doll, and that ended poorly for everyone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Axe of the Blood God, the PC RPG Quest continues! The gang is joined by their friend Jeff Green, who was at the epicentre of the major shift PC gaming underwent in the 2000's. On the surface, it was a grim time for PC RPGs. MMOs were encroaching on single-player adventures, consoles were eating into the PC RPG space...and what the heck was this "Steam" thing Valve refused to shut up about? Pffft. It'll never catch on. Also in this episode:  We introduce our characters for next week's D&D game! Be there or be square. Starscourge Radahn was un-nerfed in Elden Ring, but the important thing is he still rides on a tiny horse. (Or is it a tricycle?) Kat has started her Persona 3 playthrough, and she has some initial thoughts. Actraiser is an RPG. End of discussion. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of Axe of the Blood God comes at the end of a discourse-heavy week. E3 is pretty much dead, which spurs Kat, Nadia, and Eric into sharing their best E3 memories (Nadia still has her Witcher press Trapper Keeper). Moreover, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 has been bumped to spring 2023. Whatever will Nintendo do this holiday season?...Oh, right. Pokemon's coming. Also in this episode: Nadia's playing Valkyrie Profile and keeps calling it "Valkyria Chronicles." March Madness is done! Who came out on top as the best RPG Hero or Champion? The new PlayStation Plus deal is "uhhhh." But at least we can play Tokyo Jungle again? A book fair ran over Nadia's cat. We also have a post show available to our Stars of Destiny subscribers! This week we share our Stephen King starting recommendations and talk about being really bad at math. Stars of Destiny and above subscribers also get access to our live recording every Friday at 5pm PT, which is always a party. As always we appreciate your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's episode of Axe of the Blood God is utterly bewitching. True, Kat, Nadia, and Eric are enthralling company in every circumstance—but with the recent announcement of (not) Witcher 4, how could they resist talking about what CD Projekt has up its sleeve? The gang talks about the seemingly new direction for this beloved fantasy property, and what it entails for the still-troubled CD Projekt. Also in this episode: It's letter time! It's letter time! Kat's getting into Triangle Strategy, as the prophecy foretold. Nadia stuck a twinblade up a dragon's grundle. Back in MY day, we had to print hentai and pass it around the school. Enjoy the show? Check us out on Patreon: https://patreon.com/bloodgodpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices